Roundtable: Comics and Methodology

This discussion about the ways in which we study comics addresses the challenges and pleasures involved with various methodological approaches across both research and pedagogy. The panelists debate the limits and potentials of various methods, focusing on aspects of narrative, aesthetics, industry and audiences, among others, while weighing the use of both traditional and experimental approaches. They consider the current state of the field of comics studies while also tracing its evolution, and discuss the role of interdisciplinarity therein. Other discourses surround the role of academic publishing in comics studies, the place of comics research within the digital humanities, best practices for student engagement with comics theory as well as the different audiences targeted by comic scholarship.